deCatanzaro 1980, p. 8. Nicetas described the Saint Mamas monastery when Symeon arrived as a refuge for worldly monks, and metaphorically as a cemetery for a great number of dead. deCatanzaro, C. J.; Maloney S. J., George (1980). Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses. Paulist Press. ISBN0-8091-2230-8.
Krivocheine 1986, pp. 40–41. Nicetas described the monks as jumping on Symeon like "enraged animals", and added that Symeon's grace "kept them at a distance and drove them away." As both disciple and biographer, Nicetas was likely guilty of some embellishment. Krivocheine, Basil; Gythiel, Anthony P. (1986). In the Light of Christ: Saint Symeon, the New Theologian (949–1022). St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN0-913836-91-5.
Krivocheine 1986, pp. 44–45. Nicetas described Stephen in glowing words that held more than a hint of sarcasm: "In speech and knowledge he was superior to the masses... He possessed an abundance of words, a ready tongue. Having resigned the bishop's seat for obscure reasons known only to God, he remained close to the Patriarch and enjoyed a great reputation with everyone for his learning." Krivocheine, Basil; Gythiel, Anthony P. (1986). In the Light of Christ: Saint Symeon, the New Theologian (949–1022). St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN0-913836-91-5.
Krivocheine 1986, p. 52. Nicetas, who must have seen the event, but was also not impartial, described the scene thus: "murderous hands cut some of the icons of the holy man into pieces with an axe, hitting the image on the breast or on the head with unbridled fury." Krivocheine, Basil; Gythiel, Anthony P. (1986). In the Light of Christ: Saint Symeon, the New Theologian (949–1022). St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN0-913836-91-5.
Krivocheine 1986, p. 59. Nicetas wrote that "Almost all of the clergy of the Great Church of God (the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople), together with a large number of monks and laymen" took part in the annual celebrations honoring Symeon the Studite. Krivocheine, Basil; Gythiel, Anthony P. (1986). In the Light of Christ: Saint Symeon, the New Theologian (949–1022). St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN0-913836-91-5.
deCatanzaro 1980, p. 13. deCatanzaro writes that Symeon is so open in his writings, compared to his predecessors, that "his writings become a mirror of the man in a greater sense than do most spiritual writings." deCatanzaro, C. J.; Maloney S. J., George (1980). Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses. Paulist Press. ISBN0-8091-2230-8.
deCatanzaro 1980, p. xvii. Even though his call to do more than just what was proscribed by the rules was minor in comparison to some of his other teachings, "his challenge to religious conventionality and formalism raised a storm of controversy." deCatanzaro, C. J.; Maloney S. J., George (1980). Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses. Paulist Press. ISBN0-8091-2230-8.
deCatanzaro 1980, p. 4. According to deCatanzaro, Symeon's faithfulness to the great mystical theologians who preceded him is the reason he was called the "New" theologian. deCatanzaro, C. J.; Maloney S. J., George (1980). Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses. Paulist Press. ISBN0-8091-2230-8.
Turner 1990, pp. 53–54. In the eremitical monastic tradition, spiritual fatherhood had become something of an institution by Symeon's time, a pattern that was already established by the time of the Desert Fathers. Turner, H. J. M. (1990). St. Symeon the New Theologian and Spiritual Fatherhood. Vol. 11 of Byzantina Neerlandica. Brill. ISBN90-04-09166-1.
